Object Image

Gun - 18-pounder British Quick-Firing Field gun Mark II & Field Carriage

This gun featured in the 1996 film Michael Collins starring Liam Neesom as the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the 1921 Irish Civil War. Its First World War service is unknown but it represents the standard British & Commonwealth Royal Artillery field gun, from its introduction in 1904 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

The secrets of its success, once the inevitable teething-troubles were overcome, were robustness, adaptability and sheer weight of numbers. Originally firing only shrapnel shell, a high-explosive option was soon ready, as were smoke, incendiary and gas. The British Expeditionary Force took 324 to the Western Front in 1914 and by the war's end 3,21...

1918
Steel
XIX.529
Image and text © Royal Armouries, 2021

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